New figures show extent of hunger crisis facing schoolchildren

Feed the Future: At least a third of children in poverty across London, the East of England and the South East of England can’t access free school meals

800,000 children across England face poverty but are not able to get free school meals (Getty/iStock)

London has the highest proportion of children in poverty who do not receive free school meals according to regional data released as part of the Feed the Future campaign.

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Around 210,000 pupils in London live in households that rely on universal credit but miss out on free school meals – because their parents earn more than the restrictive threshold of £7,400 (excluding benefits) a year. This equates to 41 per cent of all children in the capital living in poverty.

This compares to 100,000 pupils in poverty being denied in the North West, 90,000 in the East of England, and 80,000 in the West Midlands – amounting respectively to 30 per cent, 38 per cent and 25 per cent of children in poverty in those regions, according to date from the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG).

Region	Number of children	Proportion of all children living in poverty
London	210,000	41%
North West	100,000	30%
East	90,000	38%
Yorkshire/Humber	80,000	30%
West Midlands	80,000	25%
South East	80,000	26%
South West	70,000	33%
North East	40,000	27%
East Midlands	40,000	24%

CPAG is one of several campaigning groups part of the Feed the Future campaign with The Independent, which calls on the prime minister Liz Truss to extend free school meals to all families in receipt of universal credit.

A spokesperson for the organisation said: “These children are at risk of going to school hungry, a situation which is only going to worsen this winter. We must move towards the path set by Scotland and Wales and ensure every child in poverty in England can get a free, nutritious meal at school every day.”